Two property owners paid Massac County commissioners a visit during Tuesday morning’s meeting to discuss two separate issues.

The first was Linda McCollum, a county resident whose house flooded in 2011. McCollum has read about the City of Metropolis is buying 12 properties in the city and wondered why Massac County, since there were only two properties, could not go ahead and buy the properties.

McCollum brought an estimated fair market value for her property, which is estimated between $88,000 and $92,000. She said she has talked to Massac County Assessor Gary Hamm and has been told the process has been started, “It’s been started for two and one-half years,” she said, adding, “It gets really frustrating. We’re getting lost in the shuffle.”

Commission Chair Jayson Farmer pointed out the money comes initially from the federal government to the state and then on to the local entity.

He said the county did file later than the City of Metropolis and financially, the county is not financially able to purchase the properties with county funds, pointing out the city’s budget is about 10 times that of the county’s.

The other resident speaking to the board was Gloria Evans McMinn, who explained after she received her property tax bill for 2012, she heard by word of mouth about the exemption available for property owners who are disabled. McMinn said when she filed the paperwork on July 16 to get the 2013 tax exemption, payable in 2014, she learned that she had missed the deadline to file for the exemption for her 2012 tax bill.

McMinn did visit Hamm’s office during the meeting and came back to the board meeting and told the commissioners, employees said there was a notice published in the Planet, but they were not certain if it mentioned specifically the disability exemption.

A public notice did run on July 24, 2012 in the Planet regarding the Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption and the Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Exemption. Another notice ran in the May 26, 2010 Metropolis Planet which listed all of the homestead exemptions available through the Supervisor of Assessment’s office.

The commissioners heard from Massac County Highway Engineer Joe Matesevac that the rain has hampered the oil and chipping. He also noted the highway department is only hiring for one position, not two as it was reported last week. He said the position is for truck driver/laborer. Next week he will begin calling people for interviews.

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